Suffolk Building Society and Town team up on money lessons for Ipswich pupils

Why it matters: The workshops aim to help young people build their confidence and understanding of money management as, according to a 2022 report by the Centre for Social Justice, 24 million adults are not confident managing their money.

The details: Ipswich Town Foundation is the charitable arm of Ipswich Town Football Club. The sessions are tailored to the needs of each school and combine face-to-face learning, presentations and interactive tasks covering:

• Managing money
• Creating a budget
• Saving
• Borrowing and interest rates

The aim is to help pupils make informed decisions about their money, including understanding the consequences of taking on debt.

The bigger picture: Suffolk Building Society created a new budgeting card game that challenges players to plan how they will spend their money, balancing essential costs such as household bills with things they might prefer to spend money on, such as takeaways, gym memberships and new clothes.

As the game progresses, players must deal with unexpected costs and rethink their budgets.

Nathan Wade, head of membership at Suffolk Building Society, said: "Much like everyday life, where a boiler can break down unexpectedly or a car can fail its MOT, the game introduces its own financial curveballs, from a rent increase to having to replace a mobile phone.

"The game makes budgeting feel real. It encourages young people to think about their choices, understand that plans sometimes have to change and work out what they would do when the unexpected happens."

What they're saying: One participating teacher said: "By offering an interactive experience with real-world examples of money management, we've seen pupils really engage with the financial education sessions provided by Suffolk Building Society. As a teacher, it's been exciting to see the pupils ask thoughtful and probing questions about how they can budget in the future."

One pupil added: "It was really good to think about what we do with our money. When we are older, we need to think about everything that could happen and make sure we can buy things that we need, and then after that we can enjoy buying the stuff we want."

Sophie O'Brien, education and employability officer at Ipswich Town Foundation, said: "We hope the sessions will give pupils greater knowledge and confidence when it comes to managing their money, both now and as they move into adulthood."

What's next: The two organisations plan to extend the programme to more local schools, teachers and pupils during this academic year.

"We're looking forward to working with more schools over the coming academic year and would love to hear from teachers who think their pupils could benefit from a similar session," said Wade.

For context: Schools can apply for a workshop delivered by Suffolk Building Society and Ipswich Town Foundation, or request the materials to run a session themselves. The free resources, designed for secondary school pupils, include:

• A lesson plan covering money basics, budgeting, saving and debt
• A presentation and worksheets
• A printable version of the budgeting card game

The bottom line: A local partnership between a building society and Ipswich Town's charity arm is helping Ipswich pupils get to grips with budgeting before adulthood, with plans to bring the sessions to more schools this academic year.

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